Terrific interview! Now I really want to see a soundtrack release for the composer breakdown!

Great interview, Arcubalis! I just really hope this get a soundtrack release. It doesn't make sense to me why all of his other works get soundtracks, and not this one (especially when it's the best soundtrack they've done since FFXII).

The live acoustic recording for Opoona was done in April last year by Eminence @ Trackdown Studios. Pretty fun working with Iwata imo.

Fantastic to hear
But how are sales doing in the U.S? At least they have hinted a European release.

They have announced Valkyria of the Battlefields Soundtrack for the 21st May so that's something to look forward to in the meantime

Thanks also for the tracklist updates so far :D

No, definitely not, I say most of it is by him, or at least he definitely is the composer with the most credits on the project.

I think you can tell more about the composer by the compositional style used than the instrumentation.

For example, I think pp07 (great track) is quite obviously Kaneda's, going by his work on Odin Sphere and Deltora Quest.

pp05 is likely Iwata.

All the battle tracks are Sakimoto, as are the opening/ending related ones.

And I am certain op04_01 (maybe my favorite) is Sakimoto's, you can just tell by the vibe.

pp04 is definitely Kaneda's with the signature chord progression.

as for battle05... it's complicated. I'd say someone arranged Sakimoto's work, though.

op01_03, op02_01/02, op04_01/03 are definitely Sakimoto's.

op04_01 is also one of my favorites. I can tell it's Sakimoto's just because it has the signature melody line (something like C - B - G - D is what Sakimoto loves) ^_^

pp05 sounds like Abe to me with that quirky chord progressions.

Additional Spam:
cp01: Abe, the most un-Basiscape Basiscape members. Almost Sugiyama-like.
cp02: the same arranger as op01_03. Can't tell though.
cp03: Sounds like Kaneda.
cp04: Abe...again
cp05: ...WTF? lmao
cp06: a little like Namiki's. Can't ascertain.
cp07: Sakimoto.
cp08: Definitely Sakimoto's. The percussion!
cp09: Melody definitely Sakimoto's.
cp10: Organ! still don't know who arranged it.
cp11: Sakimoto.
end01: Sakimoto.
end03: Iwata's arrangement.
end04: Sakimoto.
op_end/start/title: Sakimoto.
op01_xx: Theme by Sakimoto. 00, 01, 03: Sakimoto; 02: unknown... 04: Iwata (I guess).
op02_xx: Theme by Sakimoto. 01, 02 definitely arranged by Sakimoto, others not sure...
op03_xx: Theme by Sakimoto. 02 arranged by Sakimoto. others not sure... a little too pop-like, hard to decide...
op04_xx: Theme by Sakimoto. 01, 03 arranged by Sakimoto. Others again not sure...
op05_xx: I really don't know about this... weird, just weird. Doesn't sound like Basiscape.
opening04/05: Sakimoto.
opn_battle01-03: Sakimoto. 04, not sure, sounds like Iwata. 05 (definitely an awesome track!) should be arranged by some euro-electronica veteran...
opn_other01: Sakimoto.
opn_other02: Iwata.
opn_other04: Kaneda.
opn_other05: don't know...
opn_other09: Sakimoto.
opn_seirei: Sakimoto's theme.
opn_uku01-03: seems copied from somewhere else...
pp01: Abe.
pp03: Sakimoto.
pp04: Kaneda.
pp05: Abe.
pp07: Kaneda.
pp08: Abe.
pp09: Sakimoto.

That's all that I have an idea about... All are guesses but I have more confidence in some than in others.

Wow, that's quite the analysis. Who knows, that may be the closest we ever get to knowing the truth if there's no OST. But it may come in handy during the BSC, as I surely plan to nominate a track or two.

Just to let y'all know, I haven't forsaken the renaming project. Saturday night, I went on an extended Opoona bender that lasted into Sunday morning. ;)

But there's plenty of renaming fruit born of it. If you check the renaming post, it's a LOT bigger now.

And now I know...cp03 is the theme for the Cathedral. Makes sense. :)

Fine job! Many of my favorites are now identified: Intelligent Sea, Intelligent Sea Waterway, Partizans, Bravo Company...there are only a few five-star tracks left to be identified (of course, that leaves a bevy of four-stars too). Only eighteen left altogether!

Oddly, I find myself liking a lot of the alternate tracks better. They seem to be better mixed, and there are some key changes (for instance, the trumpet in Bravo Company is a flute in the alternate).

Thanks!
And it really makes me wonder...what part - if any - do those "alternate mixes" have in the game? I have yet to encounter any of them at all.

Just by way of warning...as I have been playing Opoona, I was taking notes on my laptop as I encountered the new music. However, the power adaptor cord had decided to die on me, just like the previous two did. :( So, while I wait for a new one, there'll be a brief renaming hiatus (should only be a few days).

On another note, the numbering is essentially how I came across the tracks in the game. It's entirely possible that someone else may encounter them in a different order, and so once the names are settled, perhaps the order should be renegotiated. For example, I went to Orcalpin Coast and the Holy Wilds after I became a 3-star ranger, simply because I could. :) However, the Holy Wilds become a necessity to visit a bit later in the game, and would have also fit right before Paradiso's music. It'll be little things like that which could probably be hashed out.

Doesn't appear as though the alternate versions are even used in the game. I was noticing this as I was loading some tracks onto my iPod. Anyway, I don't recall what tracks are used specifically in which places. A lot of the music is reused in different areas, too, so it's not like it has to be the first time you heard it. Since the music is broken up into regions, at least it's not as hard as it could have been.

This sounds like Iwata to me, (especially its backing chords in the e-piano part, 0:27 - 0:33 as a whole, the clarinet melody, the overall track's simplistic structure and so forth). Btw, thanks to you, I finally found my rip totally incomplete. :gonk:

I remember who composed most of the pieces but the music is stashed somewhere is storage and can't be bothered to take it out.

What I remember from the top of my head was the oboe solo track was done by Kaneda. He was astonished by how Huw Jones (Oboist) played and was kinda lost for words and staring at me... so I was like "Why dont you ask him for another take lol"

Just finished the game. Sakimoto's name came pretty early in the credits, while the rest of the composers came at the very end along with credits like...

"Music performed by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra"
"Violin - Hiroaki Yura"
going through each instrument

Was quite nice to see all of the individual musician/performer credits while that "Music performed be Eminence Symphony Orchestra" stayed at the top the whole time.

Oh yes, those oboe solo are incredible! "pp03" and "pp07" from the game rip are both excellent tracks, probably my favorite from the game. You really have excellent musicians (you included), this is even more apparent thanks to the synth+live solo formula.

Ovelia, I first thought "pp04" was Sakimoto, are you sure it might be Kaneda?

From just listening, it don't sound like Sakimoto. Who knows, I could be wrong really.

Most of the music wasnt done by Sakimoto as he was not on site to oversee the recording. I quite love the Basiscape composers, especially the professionalism of Iwata. Leaving certain things up to the specialist and knowing one's limit is one of the best things Basiscape as a company excel at.

I'm back!!! :D

...but there's not a lot of progress. :(
Haven't had a lot of Opoona time because I was having too much fun setting up my new computer....aaaaaand there's the matter of finally playing Okami, which rocks unbelievably. Please forgive. ;)

BUT...progress is still progress. Check the additions to the list.
There were a few changes as well. I went with the editorial decision that while the player CAN visit the Holy Wilds before Intelligent Sea, story-wise it just fits better between Creola and Paradiso. And the ambiances are labeled as well.

So, here's what's left:
cp08.brstm.mp3 - I'm guessing this would be the Dark Barrows?
end04.brstm.mp3 - Kind of a rhythm-only version of the previous
op01 00.brstm.mp3 and op01 tokione 00.brstm.mp3 - ooooooh, what are these for?!? They've been bugging me ever since I couldn't find them in Tokione!!!
opn battle03.brstm.mp3 and opn battle05.brstm.mp3 - So, which one's the final battle? :)
op end.thp.mp3 - Thankfully, this needs no explaining. ;)

That's it...only seven more to go!
Anyone wanna help me push this project to the finish line? :D

Oh it must be Kaneda's work judging from the timbre of the string section and percussion. :)

Any chance of another upload somewhere? The files don't seem to exist anymore at sendspace. :(

I'd love to help, but my files are all half-tagged and messy at the moment as I bring them into line with squaretex's project. Once that's done I'll definitely re-upload a nice shiny version with full tags.

That sounds like it will definitely be worth the wait. :) Looking forward to it!

Alllllright...

I think that's all.

The only one I cannot place with 100% certainty is the one I call "Family Reunion", so my solution is just a guess/aesthetic thing. If anyone has a better solution, please chime in!

Otherwise...grab the info, make a batch file, and go to town!!! :D

Excellent work as always! Good to have the set fully tagged. I just need to do some tweaks and I can upload a tagged set.

I'd personally have called that mystery track "Opoona Main Theme" or some such, as it's woven throughout many of the other tracks, but "Family Reunion" is more specific.

Thanks!

I beat the game last night, and played around a bit with the epilogue after the credits. Is there actually a scene where Opoona and the others come across their parents?

Can't say that I know. It'd be awfully disappointing if there wasn't, though, since the odds of a sequel are nil.

In other news, I've finished a fully tagged and ordered version of the game rip, using squaretex's titles. Four discs, with the fourth disc containing all the fanfares and alternates. Watch this space for the uploads!

Additional Spam:
Opoona Gamerip Disc 1
Opoona Gamerip Disc 2
Opoona Gamerip Disc 3
Opoona Gamerip Disc 4

Opoona Gamerip Disc 4 (alternate link)
Opoona Gamerip Disc 4 (alternate alternate link)